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Shape-shifting mirrors on NASA’s new space telescope could unveil Jupiters like our own
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NASA’s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, set to launch as early as the end of next month, will deploy the first space-based active coronagraph—a device designed to block out starlight and reveal hidden exoplanets. This shape-shifting mirror system will allow astronomers to directly image Jupiter-like planets in other solar systems for the first time. The mission marks a pivotal step toward eventually photographing Earth-like worlds, a goal that has driven exoplanet research for decades.
The Roman Telescope, named after NASA’s first chief astronomer, carries a 300-megapixel wide-field camera capable of capturing images 100 times larger than the Hubble Space Telescope’s widest exposures at similar resolution. This instrument will help scientists study dark matter and dark energy while detecting an estimated 100,000 new exoplanets via gravitational microlensing. Harvard research scientist Javier Viaña described the leap as moving from “interviewing a handful of people” to “conducting a global census.”
Unlike previous coronagraphs on Hubble and the James Webb Space Telescope, which use stationary blockers, Roman’s coronagraph employs active wavefront control. It measures leftover stray light before each observation and suppresses it using two deformable mirrors. Each mirror has a 48-by-48 array of tiny actuators that can deform the mirror surface by up to 0.5 micrometers in increments as small as 10 picometers—about a tenth the diameter of a hydrogen atom, according to project systems engineer Ilya Poberezhskiy.
This technology functions like noise-canceling headphones but for light, canceling out unwanted glare that might otherwise hide or impersonate a planet. The mirrors adjust their shapes to create destructive interference, eliminating speckles and light leakage around edges. This allows the telescope to see smaller, dimmer, and closer-in exoplanets than ever before. “It’s giving us the ability to see planets that we haven’t been able to physically see before,” said lead mechanical engineer Brandon Creager from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The active coronagraph will observe one stellar system at a time, blocking the star’s light to reveal planets in orbit. These first direct images of Jupiter-like worlds will provide critical data on planetary atmospheres and formation. The mission’s success could validate the active wavefront control technique for future missions aimed at finding Earth analogs, often called “Earth 2.0.”
Researchers are optimistic about Roman’s potential to transform exoplanet science. “I hope it’s remembered for being that critical stepping stone for finding Earth 2.0,” Creager stated. With a five-year primary mission, the telescope will also contribute to cosmology and stellar astrophysics. Should the coronagraph perform as expected, it will pave the way for advanced concepts like the proposed Habitable Worlds Observatory, designed specifically to image Earth-like planets around nearby stars.
